Legs Benedict Read Online Free PDF

that?”
    â€œShut up, Mal, sign the damned thing,” Bea ordered, tugging at the elastic waistband on her brown polyester pants. “I want to put my feet up for a few minutes. It’s been a real rough day.”
    Mal’s leathery features softened. “You’re right, kid. It’s been a bitch. How much?” He pulled a worn leather wallet out of his back pocket.
    â€œEighty dollars, which includes tax,” Judith replied.
    â€œEighty bucks! No booze! Sheesh!” Mal counted out four twenties and gave them to Judith. Then he put on a pair of thick glasses and bent over the registry. It seemed to take him a long time to get around to signing his name.
    â€œYou full up, you said?” asked Mal, putting his glasses away.
    Judith nodded. “Yes. The last of the reservations arrived just a few minutes before you did.”
    Again, the couple exchanged glances. “The Smiths,” Mal said in a noncommittal tone.
    â€œHow did you know?” Judith asked in surprise.
    Mal shrugged his broad if somewhat rounded shoulders. “That’s the name on the line above us.”
    â€œOh,” Judith responded in a small voice. “I thought perhaps you knew them.”
    Mal drew back as if he’d been insulted. “Hell, no. Not those Smiths. Sure, I know some Smiths. Who don’t? Why should I know these ones?”
    â€œWell…No reason,” Judith said with an apologetic smile. “I mean, I thought maybe you were traveling together. We often get friends or families who come by car and…”
    â€œSo which room?” Mal broke in. “Us, that is. I see they’re in Three.”
    Somehow unsettled by the comment, Judith hesitated. In the living room, she could hear Pam and Sandi, singing some of their children’s songs to the tune of the baby grand. Judith hoped they’d have the good sense to shut up when the other guests began arriving for the appetizer hour.
    Which, she realized, as Roland du Turque came down the stairs, was upon them. “I’ll be right back,” she informed Roland. “The sherry and juices are already on the gateleg table.”
    â€œSheesh!” Mal muttered. “Juices! You got a decent saloon around here?”
    â€œYes,” Judith replied, starting up the stairs. “There are two nice pubs on top of the hill, and several excellent restaurants, including the Hexagon, although it caters mostly to the young.”
    â€œPubs?” echoed Mal, puffing a bit as they reached the second floor. “ The young ? I’m talking about a place where you can tie one on.”
    â€œTry the bottom of the hill,” Judith said between clenched teeth. “There are several bars down there.”
    â€œHills!” exclaimed Bea. “Where’d all these blamed hills come from? I thought this city was on the ocean.”
    Opening the door to Room Six, Judith shook her head. “We’re on the Sound. The ocean is a hundred miles away.”
    â€œHunh.” Bea pulled at her tan mock turtleneck. “This sure isn’t what I expected. We’re from Chicago, we got abig lake. No hills. But plenty of saloons. Right, Mal?”
    â€œRight.” Mal was surveying the lilac chintz decor. “Jeeesus! This ain’t like no motel I ever saw!”
    â€œIt’s not a motel,” Judith said crisply. “It’s a B&B. Would you prefer a motel?”
    Abruptly, Mal turned to face Judith. “Huh? No, this is just the ticket. A B&B. Right, Bea? And Bea! Ha-ha!”
    Bea laughed, though without mirth. “Yeah, Mal, a B&B. That’s where we want to be. Ha, ha .” She sounded sarcastic, even bitter.
    Judith rushed through the usual information, including the shared bathroom with Room Five. “They’re honeymooners,” she added. “They’re very…sweet.”
    Bea made a face. “We were honeymooners—about two hundred years ago. We went to